


Remus Lupin and the Woollen Monstrosity

by Kamemor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 23:25:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6304309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamemor/pseuds/Kamemor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whether he likes it or not, Remus Lupin now owns a rather lurid Christmas jumper. So, he decides to make the most of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remus Lupin and the Woollen Monstrosity

It was the Christmas of 1974 when they gave him the Woollen Monstrosity.

Remus hadn’t been quite sure what he was expecting when James, Sirius and Peter had presented him with a lumpy, badly wrapped package on Christmas morning, especially when they all started sniggering as he began to unwrap it. Carefully removing the paper to discover a luridly bright jumper, Remus had been torn between utter embarrassment and amusement when he had been informed, in no uncertain terms, that he was to wear it for the entire day. After all, he had been looking a bit under the weather and a nice warm jumper would do wonders for his health.

He’d hit Sirius with a pillow at this point, but his attempt at a distraction had backfired spectacularly when, a few minutes of pillow-fight later, he found himself inside the jumper with his arms pinned to his sides by wool and an enthusiastic James. Swallowing his pride, Remus had relented, and wore the Woollen Monstrosity (as the thing was quickly named) for the rest of the day. It was far too big for him- room for growth! Sirius had enthusiastically proclaimed- so he had looked utterly ridiculous. Even Professor McGonagall had been unable to suppress a snort when he showed up for Christmas dinner, and Professor Dumbledore had complemented him profusely on his taste in knitwear.

By the end of the day, though, he had rather warmed to the thing (especially after seeing James, Sirius and Peter all parade around their dormitory in it), and the Woollen Monstrosity was packed away carefully in preparation for the following year.

Much to his friends’ delight, it did indeed make a repeat appearance that year and every year afterwards. Remus eventually grew into the sleeves, although it remained far too baggy on his skinny frame. The Woollen Monstrosity even became somewhat notorious around the school, and James and Sirius were delighted to realise that they had started a craze. They tried to out-do each other every year with ridiculous Christmas jumpers, and even Peter joined in with a lurid jumper of his own. It was a point of pride for the boys that, in their final year, even Professor Dumbledore had joined in with the madness.

The tradition continued even after they left school, bringing a much needed spot of levity during the dark years of the war. Much like Remus himself, the Woollen Monstrosity became worn and tired, but carried on. When little Harry was born, he spent his first Christmas surrounded by ridiculous knitwear, much to Lily’s amused exasperation. She joined in herself, of course, but her patience was tried when James and Sirius bewitched their jumpers to loudly sing Christmas carols at random intervals.

But that had been their last Christmas together.

The Christmas of 1981 had passed Remus by completely. The months after he lost everything had passed by in a blur, marked only by the cycle of the moon. Not even soul-crushing grief was enough to make Remus lose track of that. The following Christmas, however, he had spent with his father. After his mother’s death, how could he not? But it was there that the Woollen Monstrosity was finally laid to rest: in a box, in the spare room, with all of the other painful memories.

Thirteen years passed, during which Remus’s life changed completely. He discovered the truth about James and Lily’s deaths, and was reunited with Sirius, someone he had thought he would never lay eyes on again, let alone as a friend. The Christmas holiday of 1995, when he and Sirius, along with Harry and his friends and most of the Order were finally together again was the happiest Remus had been in a long time. And one other old friend had put in a surprise appearance as well.

His memory sparked by an off-hand comment Molly Weasley had made about knitting jumpers, he had returned to his parents’ old house. His father had passed away several years previously, but Remus had maintained the house as a place to lie low in an emergency on Dumbledore’s urging. He was now glad to have done so, especially when, after several minutes of excavation, he discovered the bashed cardboard box he had stored in the spare room many years previously. He had only returned to it once before, in order to retrieve pictures for Hagrid to use in a photo album for Harry, and it was covered in dust and cobwebs. Removing the lid carefully, so as not to dirty the box’s contents, he smiled broadly when the lurid tones of the Woollen Monstrosity were revealed. Shaking out the ancient jumper, Remus was pleased to discover it was in remarkably good shape for its age. There was only one hole- over the right elbow, where Remus had snagged it on a doorframe during a daring escape from Filch and Mrs Norris in seventh year. And it still fit, although, if anything, it was baggier than before.

The reaction when Remus showed up at 12 Grimmauld Place wearing the Woollen Monstrosity was every bit as entertaining as he had hoped. Sirius fell over laughing, and had taken a good ten minutes to fully recover. The expressions on Harry, Ron and Hermione’s faces were priceless, and he got a hearty congratulations from the Weasley twins for the effect it had on their mother. Severus had looked like he was going to murder someone, most likely him, and the old twinkle had returned to Dumbledore’s eye. Not bad for something that was worn thin with age and in need of a few good patches.

The following day, when Sirius appeared in a newly acquired lurid jumper of his own, it felt to Remus like all was right with the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr here: http://philcoulsonismyhero.tumblr.com/post/104259575981/remus-lupin-in-an-ugly-christmas-sweater-that-is  
> (Follow the link for my drawing of Remus wearing the Woollen Monstrosity.)


End file.
